Starlight Love

Chapter 2

2

Music pumped from speakers in the back of Adeline’s chocolate shop as she boxed up a fresh batch of chile truffles. She’d probably get another complaint from Davis, the neighboring hardware store owner and her childhood rival. It wasn’t the volume of the music that bothered Davis, but the type of music. Apparently he didn’t want to listen to reggae at eight o’clock in the morning—or at any other time, for that matter. But it set the tone for the rest of Adeline’s day. After listening to those Jamaican beats, she could handle anything that was thrown her way.

She had challenged Davis to listen to one full song and not smile. He’d accepted the challenge and won. Adeline had been baffled. How could anyone listen to reggae and not want to dance or learn how to play the bongo? Adeline had reluctantly given him a free box of chocolates as a reward and promised that she wouldn’t turn on her music before eight-thirty. She had snuck it on a few minutes early this morning—ten minutes wouldn’t make much of a difference.

The sounds of pounding on the back door to Adeline’s shop told her otherwise.

“Fine, I’m turning it down,” she yelled. Adeline turned the music down a few notches, then resumed her packaging.

There was more pounding.

“Really?” she grumbled, the effects of the music wearing off. All she needed was an hour to find her zen and she’d be good for the rest of the day. Adeline slipped off her disposable gloves and threw them in the trash as she made her way to the back door.

“I turned it down, Davis.” Her words died when she opened the door and saw it wasn’t him, but Jessie. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, making her gray hairs more apparent. She wore a bright jogging suit, her cheeks pink from exertion. “Oh, hey, Jess. Sorry, I thought it was—”

“Davis. Yes, I know,” Jessie finished for her. She laughed. “When will you two learn to play nice?”

“Hey, I play nice,” Adeline protested. “But just because he doesn’t appreciate good music doesn’t mean the rest of us have to suffer.”

Jessie’s grin didn’t waver. “Last month you snuck into his apartment above the shop while he was helping a customer and hid a speaker under his bed. It scared him half to death when it came blaring to life, reggae music filling his bedroom at the c***k of dawn instead of the usual alarm.”

Adeline tried to look sorry for it but didn’t quite pull it off. “That was probably one of my top ten pranks. And if you ask anyone in town, they’ll agree with you.” She paused, taking in Jessie’s attire. “Did you take up running or something?”

“You like it?” Jessie said, holding out her arms and turning like she was in a fashion show. “I thought that after delivering pastries to the bed and breakfast each morning, I should start throwing in a little oceanside jog. It’s good for the endorphins, you know.”

“So I’ve heard.” Adeline smiled. “But the ocean is that way.” She pointed toward the front of her shop.

Jessie waved a hand through the air. “I’ve been there, done that. Already finished with my run. But when I saw the light on in your store, I had to stop. You won’t believe the news I heard while at the bed and breakfast.”

Of course. Jessie was one of the sweetest women in town, but she also knew everything about everyone, and she loved to pass on that knowledge.

Adeline glanced at her phone. Only thirty minutes until she unlocked the front door. She opened the door wider and nodded inside. “Why don’t we talk while I finish boxing up this chocolate.”

“Do you have any duds that you need taken off your hands?” Jessie asked, stepping past.

Adeline didn’t, but she could ‘accidentally’ dent a few for Jessie’s sake. “Sure do.” She walked over to the worktable where her chocolates were spread out on parchment paper. “What flavor are you in the mood for? Chile?”

Jessie winced. “I don’t think my stomach could handle it this early in the morning. Do you have any mint?”

Adeline continued to the end of the table and poked at a few of the darker truffles. “Yeah, these look like they could use a loving home.”

“Oh, you didn’t need to ruin perfectly good ones,” Jessie said, though she looked delighted that Adeline had.

“So, what’s this amazing news you have to tell me?” Adeline asked as she placed Jessie’s chocolates in a small box. “I have to warn you, though, if it’s about Leanne and Isaac’s engagement, I already know. She called me last night.”

“Oh, no, that’s old news.”

Adeline didn’t bring up that they’d only gotten engaged the previous afternoon. If the engagement that had been in the making for fifteen years—and nearly didn’t happen—was old news, whatever Jessie knew must be earth shattering.

Jessie leaned forward, an excited glint in her eyes. “Leanne’s script is finally being made into a movie. Like, a genuine Hollywood movie. She’s named it Amaretto. Doesn’t it sound dreamy?”

Oh.

Why hadn’t Leanne said anything the previous evening? Adeline’s heart sank, but she tried to look happy for Leanne—becoming a famous screenwriter had been a childhood dream. But she also knew that Leanne’s fiancé, Isaac, wouldn’t want to leave Starlight Ridge. He wasn’t a big-city kind of guy, preferring surfing the coastal waves. Adeline wondered how he was taking the news.

“So…when are they moving out to LA?” she asked, cautious.

Jessie hadn’t lost her enthusiasm, which Adeline didn’t understand. Why wasn’t she more devastated that Leanne and Isaac would be leaving them?

“That’s the best part. They aren’t going anywhere.”

That should have made Adeline feel relieved, but instead it made her feel worse. If Leanne was going to try to balance Hollywood and family life, it wouldn’t work. It certainly hadn’t for Adeline’s father. She wouldn’t wish on anyone what her own family had gone through.

“I guess if Isaac is okay with her traveling a lot…” She trailed off when she saw Jessie was already shaking her head.

“You don’t understand. They don’t have to go anywhere because the movie is going to be filmed here. In Starlight Ridge. Not only that, but you’ll never guess who is starring in it.”

Adeline was afraid to ask.

When she didn’t respond, Jessie said, “Eli Hunt.” She paused dramatically, allowing the name to register. “In fact, he’s in town. Right. Now.”

Adeline sank onto a stool near the counter. This was terrible. How could something like this have happened? Since Adeline’s father had left them, her mother had purposely kept her from the Hollywood life. And now it had landed in Adeline’s lap.

“You…don’t look as excited as you should,” Jessie said, now looking more concerned than giddy.

“I am,” Adeline said, plastering on a smile. “Leanne deserves every good thing that comes her way, considering how long and hard she worked for this.”

Jessie raised an eyebrow. “Yes, she does deserve it, but this is an amazing thing for our town as well. It will put us on the map, so to speak. Once this movie comes out, how much do you want to bet—and I know how you love your bets—that we’ll have so many tourists, it will set us up for the next decade?”

That was probably true, with a big name like Eli Hunt attached to it. But was it awful that she’d prefer things stay the way they were, even if it meant scrimping and saving to get through their off season?

Probably. But she’d prefer Starlight Ridge remain undetected—untouched. Unmaimed. Because that was what Hollywood did to everything it touched—left it worse off than before.

“You’re right,” Adeline said, handing Jessie the small box of chocolates. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I just hope that Eli Hunt knows what he’s getting himself into, coming to Starlight Ridge.” She grinned, hoping it came across as genuine, and didn’t let it slip until after Jessie had left, already snacking on the chocolates before she’d even made it outside.

Adeline frowned as she finished boxing up the rest of the chocolates.

So, Eli Hunt was in Starlight Ridge. She hoped he wouldn’t get too comfortable, because the last thing their small town needed was to be overrun by those Hollywood types. Especially good-looking ones.